Since 1961, Haitian Creole has been recognized as an official language. Its usage in literature is small but growing. Many speakers are bilingual and speak both Haitian Creole and French, but Creole has a lower social status than French in the minds of some. Many educators, writers and activists have emphasized pride and written literacy in Creole since the 1980s. There are newspapers, radio and television programs in this language. Miami-Dade County in Florida sends out paper communications in Haitian Creole in addition to English and Spanish.

Where the French source-word is not the same as the French translation, the source is noted in parentheses. In most such cases, the difference is because of Haitian having reanalyzed the definite article as part of the noun.